Deepening Ecology Weekend Workshop

Retreat to Nature with our special Deepening Ecology Weekend.

Connecting people with nature is central to the mission of the Shared Earth Trust and Denmark Farm Conservation Centre.

In reality we have never been disconnected from nature, we are reliant on the ecosystems of which we are a part. However, many people are blocked from realising this in their personal and collective daily lives, which are all too often dominated by consumption and distraction.

Can a deeper understanding of our ecological place in the world contribute to achieving a fundamental, long term sense of contentment, satisfaction and meaningfulness? If so, how can we bring about this change in our own lives for the sake of both our ecological, social and emotional sustainability?

This two day Deepening Ecology workshop will look at the roots of the current human predicament, most recently characterised by the climate and extinction crisis, by looking back at our cultural and psychological history.

This includes drawing on ancient wisdom and philosophical approaches that recognise the place of humans in the wider ecosystem, as well as understanding the times and traditions that encouraged a more dysfunctional relationship between people and nature. Through what is generally perceived as progress and development the human species has broken through the bio-ecological limits that constrain non-human species. This has led to human activity, such as the burning of fossil fuels, becoming the dominant influence on shaping the physical future of the planet.

The workshop will use the venue and nature reserve at Denmark Farm Conservation Centre to facilitate activities and periods of reflection to take participants on both an inward and an outward journey.

Inwardly, by focusing attention on our inner human processes and exploring how to deepen our understanding of the motivations, which result in our actions that have repercussions on our physical and mental well-being. Outwardly, by linking the human psyche to the wider ecosystem and deepening our view of ecology. How can we, as individuals and as a species, play our part as active members of our ecosystem in such a way that we contribute to the stability and long term resilience of the planet.

Workshop Tutors: 

Paul Maiteny 

Paul is a psychotherapist (in private practice), an ecologist and anthropologist. With 30+ years’ experience in ecological education and research, he has been publishing on what is now known as ecopsychology since the 1990s, focusing on its psychospiritual and cultural dimensions. Paul has held research and teaching posts at Oxford and Open Universities, and University College London. He researches psycho-spiritual and socio-cultural causes and consequences of ecological problems, the possible evolution of sustainability, human evolution in transpersonal (and eco-systemic) context, and clues to the latter within spiritual-religious texts, scriptures and myths. He has always been inspired by the invisible web of relationships between beings that constitute the eco-system. He runs a course on Transpersonal Ecopsychology (aleftrust.org) and has tutored since 1995 on the MSc Education for Sustainability at London South Bank University. 

Publications include: Trees of knowledge,death and possible life: Ancestral warnings of ecosystemic holocaust, its psychospiritual causes, and clues to resolution (Self & Society) Longing to be Human: evolving ourselves in healing the Earth (Rust & Totton ed. Vital Signs), Finding Meaning without Consuming, Psychotherapy as an Eco-Systemic Activity (The Psychotherapist, Winter 2008/9), Psychological and Cultural Dynamics of Sustainable Human Systems (UNESCO Encyclopedia of Life-Support Systems).

Glenn Strachan

Glenn first became involved with Denmark Farm through the Ceredigion Biodiversity Enhancement Scheme in 2004. He became a trustee of the Shared Earth Trust in 2010. He worked in farming for eight years when he first left school before going back into education and qualifying as a teacher. He has taught in schools, further education and higher education and was Head of Education at the Earth Centre, a large Millennium Project devoted to sustainable development. Since 2002 he has worked as a consultant and researcher in education for sustainable development and global citizenship, while also teaching part time on a Master’s degree in Education for Sustainability. He is particularly interested in the educational aspects of Denmark Farm Conservation Centre.

Fees: £100 per person (£85 students/unwaged)

Fee includes two days teaching, all teaching materials and hot drinks during breaks. Please bring a packed lunch or feel free to use our self-catering kitchen to prepare your own food.

Click here for Terms and Conditions of Booking

Accommodation is available for an additional charge:

Self catering Eco Lodge, shared dormitories and eco-camping are all available at Denmark Farm. Please contact us about your accommodation needs.

All proceeds from our events and holidays are ploughed directly back into managing our 40 acre nature reserve. Thank you for your support and please do come to visit soon.

You maybe interested in other ecology, conservation, species ID, sustainable living and natural crafts workshops at Denmark Farm. See our full events page